We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The next morning, in the imperial military camp.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep—

A loud military bugle call woke the imperial guards from their dreams.

The soldiers opened their sleepy eyes and looked at the dark military camp outside the tent, their faces full of confusion.

It was not until the officers shouted loudly that they hurriedly put on their armor and gathered in the center of the camp.

However, the officers were also confused and had no idea what the horn sound was.

I could only hear that it seemed to be coming from next door.

The military camp next door had been empty all the time. It was only after the Fengtian Army entered the city yesterday that it was cleared out for them to temporarily station there.

The imperial guards gathered together and asked each other:

"Who knows what's going on? It's only the morning of the 11th, why are they all up?"

"If you ask me, who should I ask? The bugle call came from the Fengtian Army. We haven't heard it either."

"What are these guys from the north up to? They caused a scene on the street yesterday, and now they're making trouble early this morning!"

"Alright, alright, the Fengtian Army will be leaving in a few days, so just be patient."

It is understandable that the imperial guards had a bad impression of the Fengtian Army.

After all, the military is a place where people compete with each other and the strong prey on the weak.

The Fengtian Army was so impressive when it entered the city that it completely overshadowed the imperial guards of the three camps, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among the people.

Finally, a deputy general stepped forward and said, "Okay, I'll go take a look. It should be the Fengtian Army doing morning exercises."

This deputy general had escorted Huang Jin to Chaoyang City and knew that the Fengtian Army had always had the habit of doing morning exercises.

The generals looked at each other and said, "Let's go together! Let's go together!"

"Going out for morning exercises so early? You really don't feel tired!"

"Let's go! Let's go see what's so special about the Fengtian Army's morning exercises."

The generals mounted their horses and headed for the camp where the Fengtian Army was stationed.

As soon as we reached the camp gate, we saw rows and rows of Fengtian Army soldiers running around the training ground.

There was also a team leader running along the outside of the team, shouting orders:

"One two one, one two one!"

The generals of the imperial guards were there to watch the fun, but as soon as they saw this for the first time, their expressions changed.

Although it was just daily training, the Fengtian Army's formation was still neat and uniform, and from a distance it looked like it was divided by an invisible ruler.

It seems that the Fengtian Army’s entry into the city yesterday was not intentional to show off, their formation was always so neat!

The Fengtian Army sentries discovered it early, and many imperial guards generals came together.

A lieutenant of the Fengtian Army walked out of the drill ground and saluted the generals. "Greetings, generals. I wonder what brings you here?"

All the generals were silent, and it was the deputy general who had been to Chaoyang City who spoke up to explain:

"We heard the sound of horns in your camp and came to investigate out of curiosity. We hope we haven't disturbed your army."

The captain suddenly realized, "I see. I forgot to greet you generals. Please forgive me for disturbing you."

"No problem, no problem. Is your army training?"

"Exactly."

"I wonder if it would be convenient for us to observe. We are all very curious about the Fengtian Army's training methods."

The captain nodded and said, "That's fine. Everyone, please come this way."

The captain led the imperial guards to the reviewing platform, which was high up and allowed them to see the entire training ground.

After watching for a while, the expressions of the imperial guards generals became more and more solemn.

This group of Fengtian troops seemed to be tireless, running around in circles and had not rested since they arrived.

Finally, someone couldn't help but ask, "How long will this run take?"

The accompanying lieutenant replied, "According to the Fengtian Army's morning exercise system, morning exercises are a two-mile long-distance run to warm up."

"Two miles a day? And it's just a warm-up?" A general of the imperial guards was dumbfounded.

He was not shocked by the number of two miles, but by the frequency of the Fengtian Army's drills.

Daqing had only been established for ten years, and its army was still quite competent and had not become corrupt.

Even so, ordinary armies could only conduct drills once every five or ten days.

Even the three major battalions of the Imperial Guard, elite troops guarding the imperial capital, only conduct drills once every three days.

Soldiers are also human beings, especially the imperial guards, most of whom are local people in the imperial capital and have things to do on weekdays.

Daily patrols and guard duty are already tiring. If the frequency of drills is increased, it will inevitably cause the military's morale to waver.

Before today, these generals could not imagine that there was an army in the world that conducted daily drills.

The captain did not know what the imperial guards were thinking, so he continued:

"After warming up, there are push-ups, sit-ups, long and short runs, etc. The morning exercise time is generally controlled within half an hour."

Someone asked, "Did the soldiers have any complaints about such strenuous training?"

The captain gave the questioning general a strange look. "Is this tiring? The other special forces have even heavier training tasks. The cavalry battalion has to practice horsemanship, the crossbow battalion has to practice shooting, and the scout battalion has to run ten miles..."

Upon hearing this, the imperial guard general immediately fell silent.

No wonder the Fengtian Army is so good at fighting and no wonder they look so good. This is really a life-threatening training.

Normally, we train for half an hour, but today due to limited space and equipment, we only trained for more than 40 minutes.

Even so, such a large amount of training was enough to silence the generals who were watching.

After morning exercises, the soldiers automatically lined up to get food for breakfast. There was no noise in the team, only occasional conversations.

"I wonder how many meals a day the Fengtian Army has?" someone else asked curiously.

The ancients practiced a two-meal system. The first meal was called "morning meal", also known as "饔", and was eaten around nine in the morning.

The second meal is called '晡食' or '哺食', also known as 飧.

Some nobles had breakfast and lunch, for a total of three meals a day. The emperor's court diet was customarily four meals a day.

The reason why ordinary people ate two meals a day was not only due to insufficient production capacity in ancient times, but also closely related to the ancient people's lifestyle of working from sunrise to sunset.

Hearing the question, the captain did not hide it and replied: "The Fengtian Army has a lot of training, so we have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, a total of three meals."

The general looked at the steaming broth and the boiled eggs in each hand and couldn't help asking, "Do you have such a sumptuous meal for all three?"

"Yes, His Highness has issued a clear order for the military's food standards to be implemented. Soldiers must have meat, vegetables, soup, and staple foods every day. There must be no deviation. If there is a problem with the food, people will die."

Upon hearing this, the generals fell silent.

At their level, they certainly would not eat with ordinary soldiers, so they would not envy this food.

But they knew the food situation of their troops. Not to mention eating meat every day, it was good enough to have meat once every ten days or half a month.

Not to mention that there are those who suck the blood of soldiers and embezzle their food and wages, the food of their troops will only be worse.

Seeing this, the jealousy of the imperial guards towards the Fengtian Army completely disappeared.

No wonder the captain was willing to let everyone watch the drill. The Fengtian Army's training method is simply impossible to replicate.

Although the captain invited them to have breakfast, the generals of the imperial guards had no interest in it and left in disgrace.

When they reached the camp gate, they just happened to meet He Conglong.

Facing He Conglong, no one could be arrogant and they all bowed respectfully.

This left He Conglong completely confused. When did these arrogant imperial guards become so humble?

But he didn't think much about it. He strode into the military camp and began to beat the drum to gather the troops.

Yesterday, He Conglong did not rest in the military camp, but went to the inn arranged for him by Emperor Qing.

Leaving the barracks made him unable to sleep, so he began to review what had happened yesterday.

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't sleep.

This imperial capital is indeed different from Chaoyang City. The people I meet and the things I encounter all reveal more complicated things.

Even the Duke of Zheng, Chang Pan, seems reckless, but is he really reckless?

Not to mention the ministers at the dinner, the cunning eunuch Huang Jin, and the emperor sitting high on the dragon throne.

He Conglong thought about it for half the night and felt that it was not advisable to stay here for a long time. The longer he stayed, the greater the chance of causing trouble for his own prince.

It would be better to buy supplies quickly and leave this dangerous place.

After gathering the soldiers, He Conglong rushed to the market without stopping.

However, he didn't expect that the Ministry of Revenue official sent by Emperor Qing had been waiting at the market entrance early.

The official was very attentive. After meeting He Conglong, he first introduced himself and asked in detail about the supplies that the Fengtian Army wanted to purchase.

Then he asked He Conglong to wait for a moment and went into the market himself. When he came out, there were more than a dozen merchants following him.

"General He, I have brought you the people you requested."

"These are the owners of the grain and oil shop, these are the owners of the cloth shop, and these are the clerks of the Salt and Iron Bureau..."

"Just tell them how much you need and they'll find a way to get it for you."

Everyone saluted He Conglong and said, "Greetings, General He."

He Conglong looked at the official with gratitude on his face: "Thank you very much, this saves me a lot of trouble."

The Ministry of Revenue official laughed and said, "This is what we should do. We only hope that the soldiers and civilians of Fengguo can use this batch of supplies to kill more Khitans!"

He Conglong was moved. Although the imperial capital was full of conspiracies and intrigues, there were also many officials who cared about the country and the people.

He clasped his fists and said, "It must be so!"

With the cooperation of these people, the subsequent procurement plan will go much more smoothly.

He Conglong took out the list given by Li Che and explained the items one by one.

Everyone would go to the store to pick up the goods according to the list, and if there were not enough goods, they would go to other stores to get more.

But in just one morning, the goods were almost collected.

By noon, all the goods had been delivered.

The Fengtian Army soldiers loaded the goods onto the trucks, and the huge convoy stretched from the easternmost to the westernmost end of the market.

He Conglong expressed his gratitude to the official beside him, "Without your help, I wouldn't be able to buy so much goods in three days and three nights. Thank you again."

The official smiled and said, "Don't thank me. Thank His Majesty instead. It was His Majesty who personally took care of General He's matter."

"That's right. I will go to the palace to see the emperor and then set off."

"His Majesty has said that General He will not need to enter the palace once he has completed his shipment. If he sets off early, he can return to Fengguo before winter arrives."

He Conglong was slightly startled, then he bowed towards the imperial city and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will leave first."

"Bon Voyage."

"Farewell."

After taking a few steps, He Conglong suddenly thought of something and turned to walk to the side of the Ministry of Revenue official.

In the official's stunned eyes, he took out a dagger from his waist and put it into the official's hand:

"This item was found by our army from the corpse of a Khitan general. I leave it to you as a souvenir."

The official held the dagger in his hand, his expression excited: "This...this..."

"Take it." He Conglong smiled slightly, "Next time I return to Beijing, I will definitely come to visit you."

"When the time comes, I'll give you a better Khitan sword!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and caught up with the Fengtian Army merchant caravan that had already set off.

The official held the dagger in his hand and watched the caravan leave the market and disappear from his sight.

He didn't come to his senses until a figure appeared beside him.

"People in the Fengtian Army are different, aren't they?"

The official suddenly woke up, looked at the person beside him, and bowed his head in greeting: "Prime Minister Du, as you ordered, I gave them the maximum discount."

"Those who serve the country are truly different. The general didn't mention a single word about kickbacks. I think he's truly dedicated to his duties, which is truly rare."

Du Fuchen nodded slightly and sighed: "The Left Prime Minister is wise and made a good choice."

The official blinked and said carefully: "Prime Minister Du, I see that this Prince Feng has the appearance of a master, why don't you also..."

Du Fuchen smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I know this, but Your Majesty is a wise and suspicious ruler. How could you allow two prime ministers to stand behind the same prince?"